Le Dépanneur Café
Informations
:
Café où les artistes locaux peuvent se produire pendant une heure, on peut s’y arrêter pour manger un brin, écouter la musique, discuter entre amis ou, parfois, relaxer.
What she thought
Situated along Bernard, a main artery in the Mile End part of Montréal, Le Dépanneur Café offers a venue for musicians and a place to meet with friends to enjoy a meal and a beverage. Our first visit to the café was in 2013 when we had brunch on the back terrace. Being October and a bit nippy, taking our espressos to the terrace did not seem our best choice, so we found a table inside.
- Coffee: Le Dépanneur Café uses Espresso « E », which is roasted by Barista Torrefazione and consists of organic, Fair Trade beans from South America and Indonesia. I ordered a latte, which was the most uniquely prepared latte I have ever had. The barista extracted my shot, which had a good amount of crema, steamed the milk, and then poured it into the espresso. So far so good. But then the barista stirred my latte with a spoon—and I mean he really stirred it. (I never take sugar so it wasn’t stirred for that reason.) After that, he added a bit more foamed milk on top. I have done some searches on the Internet trying to discover if this a technique for a more Italian-style caffe latte; however, I haven’t found anything that describes this process. I would describe the latte as a more traditional espresso drink but it lacked the smoothness, richness, and espresso/milk balance that I look for in a latte. I was able to scoop up the foam along the sides and bottom of the glass. Note to Readers: If you know why the latte was prepared this way, please let me know on Twitter. I am always interested in learning about all things coffee.
- Seating: Le Dépanneur Café has quite a selection of seating—from tables and chairs to couches and low tables to a decent-sized terrace outside in the back. Since the terrace is supposed to be non-smoking, there are a few chairs in front of the café for those who need to take a smoking break.
- Atmosphere: The café is rather dark, the only natural light coming from the storefront window. The background music was quite loud as was the crowd noise, which was due in part to the café being busy. As previously mentioned, musicians perform in the main seating area, and as we left I saw a cellist getting ready to play his set. The performance schedule is on the first page of the café’s web site.
Final Thoughts: Le Dépanneur Café offers a meeting place for friends and colleagues to enjoy a meal and local musicians.
A “stirred-after-adding-foamed-milk” latte—a first for me…
Ce qu’il en pense
Café où les artistes locaux peuvent se produire pendant une heure, on peut s’y arrêter pour manger un brin, écouter la musique, discuter entre amis ou, parfois, relaxer. Le décor est dépareillé, avec tables chancelantes, divans, piano et amplis pour les spectacles. Ambiance communautaire, avec réfrigérateurs vitrés à portes coulissantes, posters de spectacles et d’événements, CDs à vendre. L’année dernière, on y avait fait un arrêt brunch, la nourriture était ordinaire, mais pas chère.
Le café utilisé est celui du torréfacteur Montréalais Barista, leur mélange Espresso “E” sert pour l’espresso. Le lait du cappuccino est moussé et on y ajoute du cacao, ah non, trop tard! Même problème pour Vicky, qui a eu droit à un latté frappé. Breuvage trop chaud, goût amer du café sur-extrait, il s’en trouve qui aiment le café ainsi préparé.
- Le café (cappuccino): brûlant, sur-extrait, amer, lait moussé qui flotte.
- Les lieux: ambiance salon, sans flafla, ni tape-à-l’œil.
- Le personnel: sympatique, bien occupé.
Le cappuccino au Dépanneur Café
